The Hewlett Bulldogs will celebrate 100 years of football at the high school field on Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. with a “blue out” game, wearing an all-blue uniform combination.
“Come help us celebrate the tradition of Hewlett Football!” John Palladino, head coach for the Bulldogs wrote in a text message to the Herald.
From their time as the “Blue Jackets,” running around Hewlett Elementary School’s fields in their football gear, to becoming the Bulldogs, the program has had its share of highs and lows. In the 1940s, the then-Woodmere High School football program held a Nassau County record: 26 consecutive losses, from 1944 to 1948.
The program took a step forward in the late 1950s. Lee Mitchell, a senior linebacker in Hewlett’s class of 1961, shared a 72-minute video on YouTube titled “Hewlett HS Football Highlights ~ 1958-1960,” with footage by Dick DeVuono’s father, a fellow teammate. Mitchell and DeVuono were captain their senior year, along with Dick Rosen.
“We should have been undefeated in 1960,” the video’s description read. “We tied the first game, lost by a TD or less the next three games with one or more TD’s called back in all four games, and then blew everyone out by around 30 points a game in the last four games.”
Some might remember the days when homeroom teacher Toni Robin volunteered as a columnist for the Nassau Herald. In the Oct. 23, 1975 edition, Robin wrote about how Hewlett braved a torrential downpour to defeat Valley Stream South in a game dedicated to Drew Cascardi.
After falling to the Great Neck South Rebels in an intra-league championship showdown on Nov. 6, 1982, the returning players went undefeated in 1983. That same year, the team presented a Hewlett superfan known as Lenny — a World War II veteran — with his own jersey.
Becoming the Bulldogs
In 1990, the Blue Jackets began a unique run in high school sports. Jay Iaquinta, a well-respected Lynbrook and Maritime College coach, joined Hewlett’s staff, and,
as Herald writer Mike Hanin wrote and made the Bulldogs a cohesive force.
In 1992, The Bulldogs played their home games on fields in Lynbrook. In October, the team knocked off Elmont, Sewanhaka, and Great Neck North, where Hewlett surrendered its first points of the season — a field goal. Shawn “Primetime” Dwyer ran for more than 240 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bulldogs went 6-2 that year despite rough locker room conditions, no homecoming game on their home turf, and a schedule that included playing five of its first six games on the road. Hewlett would fall to a dominant Garden City team — which secured their 28th consecutive win in the contest — in the Big Four Champions semifinal, 28-13.
“Anyone who considers themselves [any] kind of Hewlett football fan must attend this game,” Hanin said in a Nov. 19 column before the big game.
The Bulldogs’ 1994 team was headlined by Matt “Air-Margulies” Margulies, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound quarterback who drew comparisons to Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. He was recruited by dozens of schools, including Purdue, Duke, Lehigh and Rutgers, before suiting up at quarterback for Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire.
From 1996 to 2014, The Bulldogs were a county champion once and Big Four Champions — teams that win their quarterfinal matchup — 11 times. In one game, defensive end Cory Ziskind, scored two defensive touchdowns, had two fumble recoveries, three tackles and two sacks.
Ryan May, who graduated from Hewlett in 2020, played for the bulldogs from 2014 to 2019. He was a water boy for the varsity team from 2010 to 2012.
Now 23, May said he remembered going to games, most notably, a matchup between the Bulldogs and the Lawrence Golden Tornadoes.
“I specifically remember being in the locker room before a Hewlett-Lawrence playoff game and looking at all the players thinking they felt like adults,” May said. “At the time, I couldn’t wait to be one of them.”
